- i find it really fascinating how this trope has managed to maintain it's relevancy through the thick fog of romanticism from which it first actualised. it is as though it plagues me wherever i go. despite standing in proximity with it i find great difficulty making out any real meaning or value in portraying one's suffering (by extension others) as something virtuous. this almost fetishistic approach to describing & engaging with pain.
- i am unsure that what i am talking about directly relates to the idea of a "tortured artist" as what i'm describing pertains to a sort of self-wallowing, not caused by external factors. many adopt this "tortured" identity because they believe, or have been taught to believe, that greatness (or maybe relevancy?) is impossible to maintain without staying in the depths of pain. at a certain point it ceases to be a human experience & instead lives on as a commodity.
- i don't know.
- wip! hello
feb 5 2026 ∞
feb 7 2026 +